Chemistry / Unit 8 Chem 1498 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Ionic Crystal Unit Cells
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The idea
An ionic crystal's unit cell treats one ion's positions as the lattice and the other ion as filling the gaps it leaves.
In practice
Sodium chloride's face-centered cubic cell contains four sodium ions and four chloride ions, keeping the required 1:1 ratio.
Where people slip
An ionic cell's two ion counts must reduce to the compound's actual formula ratio, or the calculation has gone wrong.
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